Governor Proclaims Sea Turtle Week

Sea Turtle Week

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, worldwide, six of the seven sea turtle species are threatened or endangered; and

Whereas, five of the seven sea turtle species have been documented to have nested on North Carolina beaches; and

Whereas, North Carolina oceanfront beaches that span 330 miles are important sea turtle habitats and are key to contributing hatchlings to the Southeastern United States loggerhead sea turtle population; and

Whereas, roughly 96 miles of North Carolina’s oceanfront beaches are designated as a critical nesting habitat for loggerhead sea turtles; and

Whereas, an average of 378 turtles nest on North Carolina beaches each year, laying 1,000 nests that produce 70,000 emergent hatchlings; and

Whereas, primary threats to sea turtles in North Carolina waters are habitat degradation, incidental capture in commercial and recreational fishing gear, boat collisions, climate change, and marine pollution; and

Whereas, state, federal, and nonprofit agencies, including the Bald Head Island Conservancy and NC Audubon, monitor more than 95 percent of the state’s 330 miles of coastline daily during the nesting season to find and protect sea turtle nests; and

Whereas, North Carolina Aquariums and The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center, along with numerous volunteers and staff who work endlessly to help protect the sea turtles of North Carolina, rehabilitate and release dozens of injured sea turtles each year;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim June 9-13, 2025, as “Sea Turtle Week” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twentieth day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.